TOY BOX: Good things can be said about the Rave

Anyone who pays attention to MP3 players knows Apple's iPod is the king of the hill in that space. But for someone who doesn't want to spend the minimum $249 for an iPod Mini, what are the alternatives?

Anyone who pays attention to MP3 players knows Apple's iPod is the king of the hill in that space. But for someone who doesn't want to spend the minimum $249 for an iPod Mini, what are the alternatives?

The Rave MP AMP128 from GoVideo is a handy little player that is easy to use and offers good sound quality.
The Rave is much smaller than an iPod and comes with a small case and an arm band.
This would make it a good choice for runners who would prefer to listen to something besides their own heavy breathing. It has an FM radio for oldsters like me who still listen to the radio.
The base model has only 128MB of memory, enough for 60 songs. There's also a 256MB version that holds 120 songs and it's expandable to one gigabyte with an SD memory card. It's also a voice recorder, but I couldn't get that feature to work. Attempts to do so locked up the controls somehow.
Still, for listening to music files, this is a very serviceable device and the price seems right.
Any suggestions for gadgets we should try? Send them to toybox@prweek.com

John N. Frank writes Toy Box. He is the Chicago-based Midwest bureau chief for